US Concerned Syrian Ceasefire Pact Is a Failure - East Idaho News
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US Concerned Syrian Ceasefire Pact Is a Failure

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GETTY W 110311 SyriaBasharAlAssadJPG?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1336146216468Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Frustrated with the Syrian government’s apparent defiance of a United Nations ceasefire agreement to end 14 months of violence there, the Obama administration strongly suggested Thursday that it might be time to take more decisive action to end the slaying of civilians.

The White House spoke out after reports emerged that Syrian troops attacked students at Aleppo University late Wednesday, leaving four students dead and 28 wounded. As many as 200 students were also taken into custody.

Expressing President Obama’s growing anger with the situation, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad continues to ignore calls to end the fighting, “the international community is going to have to admit defeat and work to address the serious threats to peace and stability being perpetrated by the Assad regime.”

The administration has already said it would not intervene militarily in the conflict between government forces and rebels seeking to overthrow al-Assad.  Several Republicans have taken the president to task for not even trying to provide arms to the opposition.

There are also indications that the White House is still willing to give the ceasefire, crafted by U.N. special emissary Kofi Annan, a chance to work since it is also deploying U.N. monitors in various hot spots.

“We support it because we believe it is deterring some regime violence in Syria and will help in the collection of evidence for future accountability,” one national security official said about the agreement Thursday.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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